You Knew- A Becoming Winchester Story
by Blossom9
Summary: Taking place in the 'Becoming Winchester' AU, 14-year-old Adam is on the road with Dad and Dean only a few weeks after Sam has left for college. The family is suffering from the loss, Dean most of all. Warning: corporal punishment


_**Author's Note:**__ This story takes place in the same 'Becoming Winchester'-verse as my other stories, but is being posted separately for a few reasons; see the author's notes at the end for more. _

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_Timeline: This story takes place in September 2001 when Adam is 14 years old, only a few weeks after Sam has left for college. The family is suffering with the loss, Dean most of all. _

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Man, motel rooms were so boring. Even with so-called 'premium channels' and the colorful clientele that came and went Adam was beginning to consider being stuck in a boring motel room one of the seven levels of hell.

He was sitting at the wobbly motel table, flipping channels and watching out the window for Dad to get back. He'd left right after their morning run, hoping to get some more details on possible cursed objects causing all the weird-ass deaths in this town. It was nearly noon now and no matter how many times Adam glanced out the window he still hadn't caught sight of the black truck that would free him from today's relentless boredom.

"Dean?" he said, looking across the room to the motel bed where his brother was passed out, tangled up in the sheets and drooling on the pillow.

"Dean?" he called again, louder, ready for his brother to wake up.

Dean didn't move or acknowledge Adam's call.

Rolling his eyes, Adam grabbed one of the sheets of newspaper off the table in front of him, crumbling it into a tight ball.

"Dean!" he called, throwing the ball and hitting Dean in the ear, making his brother groan and mumble in sleep, burrowing further into the bed.

Grabbing one of the small Latin translation books off the table, Adam chucked it at his brother, hitting him hard in the shoulder.

"Hey!" Dean yelled, immediately flipping onto his back, a sharp silver knife in hand, waving it dangerously, ready for whatever evil SOB dared to wake him.

Adam stared at his brother, unimpressed.

"I'm hungry," he complained, staring at his older brother.

"So eat," Dean huffed, his heart racing from the unexpected wake-up.

"Eat what?" Adam asked, still staring at him.

"I don't know," Dean replied, relaxing back into the bed and putting his knife back under his pillow.

"There's nothing here and Dad's not back yet," Adam responded in annoyance.

"Don't care," Dean said, rolling over and nestling back down into the pillow.

"Fine," Adam said standing up, "I'll just take the car and get something myself," he said reaching for the keys on the table in front of him.

"Touch the keys and die," Dean mumbled into the pillow, not bothering to lift his head to look at his brother.

"Dean!" Adam snapped in frustration.

"Ugh, fine. Fine," Dean grumbled, pushing himself up off his pillow and sitting up on the bed. "I'm up. I'm up,"

Adam glared at him, sitting down heavily at the motel room table.

"Sam…" he mumbled, looking away from Dean.

"What?" Dean asked rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up, unsure he'd heard his brother correctly.

"Nothing," Adam muttered.

"No. What'd you say?" Dean asked seriously, fully awake now, wondering what Adam had been saying about their brother.

"Forget it," Adam murmured, crossing his arm stubbornly.

"No man, you got something to say, just say it," Dean said watching Adam carefully.

"I said" Adam replied, glowering at him, "Sam never said it would like this when he left,"

Adam looked away, slumping further into the chair.

Dean watched him, perplexed.

'_Sam never said…' _

It took a moment for Dean's thoughts to solidify and he couldn't believe what he'd heard.

"Wait…" he asked, sure that he's misunderstood, that he was wrong about what Adam was implying, "…You knew? You knew he was gonna leave?"

Adam stared back at him condescendingly, "You didn't?"

"No, I didn't fucking know! I would have said something! Why didn't you say something?" Dean said, hot rage building in his chest.

Adam shrugged like it was nothing. Like he hadn't kept the biggest secret of their lives from Dean, "He told me not to tell,"

"He…he told you not to tell?" Dean asked slowly, not believing what his brother was saying.

"You don't think Sam walking out on our family was something to tell?" he yelled suddenly, watching as Adam flinched from his brother's unexpected volume.

"He asked me not to Dean," Adam replied calmly, for once not matching Dean's anger with his own, "And besides I didn't think he'd be leaving forever. I didn't realize you and Dad were such nutballs when it came to college,"

"I...I just..." Dean stammered in frustrated bewilderment.

Adam watched Dean carefully, trying to judge just how angry he was becoming. Dean could be ferocious and downright scary when he was hunting, but Adam had never had that brutality turned on him.

The moment Adam saw the muscle in Dean's jaw tighten; he knew exactly how mad his brother was.

Adam leapt up suddenly, making a break for it, knocking over his chair and sending the table rocking as he flew toward the door, ducking under Dean's reach as his furious older brother barreled toward him.

Adam was fast, but Dean was faster. He jumped up, grabbing the teen by the leg and dragging him down to the motel room carpet, knocking the wind from his younger brother.

Dean was on top of him in an instant, landing a vicious punch to Adam's back as he grunted and writhed trying to get away. Another vicious punch to the kidney made Adam scream in pain and he lashed out, throwing an elbow behind him that caught Dean in the ribs and startled his brother.

Dean was only momentarily stopped however and angrily flipped Adam over sitting on his chest and punching him in the face, instantly feeling blood splatter against his knuckles.

Adam was fighting for everything he was worth, kicking and scratching, anything that would get his brother off of him. Another damning punch to the head made Adam see stars. He momentarily stopped trying to block Dean's punches and instead clasped both his hands together and punched his brother as hard as he could in the crotch.

Dean grunted in immediate pain and froze, grabbing himself and leaning off Adam enough that he could wriggle free and rush to crawl away. He didn't get far though before Dean recovered, grabbing him by the hair and grinding his face into the stale motel room carpet. Dean picked Adam up by the hair slightly and slammed him back into the carpet, ignoring his little brother's pitiful cries.

"God Dammit! Stop!"

Both boys froze where they were, one of Dean's hands tangled in Adam's hair forcing his face into the ground, the other holding his arm behind his back.

"What the hell is going on here!" John growled, standing in the doorway of the motel.

Dean jumped up off Adam, pulling up his bloodied younger brother up by the back of the shirt.

"I asked you boys a damn question," John demanded, still not moving from his position in the open motel room door.

Both boys were silent, Adam swaying slightly on his feet, feeling blood still dripping from his nose.

John strode over to his youngest son, gently grabbing his chin and lifting it to inspect the damage. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it to the boy's nose, brushing the hair away from his face.

John looked over at Dean, demanding an explanation.

Dean was still, eyes downcast, breathing hard.

"Dean." John ground out.

"Sir," Dean said, looking up to meet his father's eyes, but offering no explanation.

"That's it. This has to stop." John said growling down at them, "It's one thing to spar and practice, but you're not gonna beat the shit out of each other- no matter what the problem is. Especially you Dean, for Christ's sake, you're 8 years older than Adam."

Adam shifted nervously under their father's steady gaze as Dean grit his teeth, still angry but now also embarrassed at being reprimanded.

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John reached out and grabbed both boys by the upper arm, pushing them toward the motel room table pushed up against the wall.

Adam was confused for a moment as he stood next to the table until he saw his father reach for his belt buckle. Adam hung his head in defeat. Not only did he get the crap beat out of him by Dean, but now Dad was gonna take a piece too.

Dean stared at his father incredulously. "Dad, you can't be serious."

"I am boy," John said, sliding the belt through the loops of his jeans and folding it over in his hand.

"Dad..." Dean tried once more. He was 21 years old. Way too old to be punished by his father.

Adam, on the other hand, was already resigned to his fate and had bent himself over the table his arms wrapped tightly around his head, hoping to hide the tears he knew would come soon.

"Dean!" His father snapped, roughing grabbing the boy by the back of the neck and shoving him toward the table, "You boys are not gonna fight each other like this and I'm gonna make sure you remember that."

Dean huffed in resignation and bent himself over the table, old fear growing in his stomach. He hadn't felt the taste of his father's belt on his backside in a long time and dreaded the strength the old man was likely to put behind the hits now that Dean was older.

Once both boys were in place, John didn't hesitate. He went right to work laying stripe after stripe across their backsides, alternating one boy then the other.

He had to work to restrain himself so as not to hit Adam as hard as he was Dean, remembering the boy was only 14. Still though Adam was sobbing soon, head buried in his arms, his only movement a slight jump when the belt made contact. Dean remained stoic, grunting slightly, his face turned away from his younger brother, grimaced in anger.

John soon finished with Adam. He knew how much the boy could take and he was close to breaking. Not to mention the poor kid was busted up from the beating his older brother gave him. Saying nothing, John moved slightly away from Adam and focused in on Dean, laying down several hard hits along the back of the boy's thighs, making him gasp and arch in pain.

Adam didn't move from his position. He knew better than to move without permission, but he peeked an eye out from behind his arms and watched the back of his older brother's head as his father continued to hit him. Even with all the punches Dean had landed and how angry Adam was at his brother, he wanted nothing more than for his father to stop.

Too scared to say anything and risk more punishment, he mentally pleaded with their father. Dean might be 21, but it didn't look like he could take much more. With each hit, Dean grunted and gasped, lifting slightly more of the table. At one point Adam heard a broken sob like sound come from his brother and Adam hid his face once more, no longer able to watch.

"Dad! Dad, stop!" Dean choked out. "Ah, shit. Please!" he begged finally.

And John did stop; thankfully, breathing hard he tossed the belt on the bed behind him. John looked down at the boys in front of him. Adam quietly crying into his still folded arms and Dean taking in halting breaths trying to get a hold of himself and not cry out loud.

"Get cleaned up. Both of you," John said simply, walking back out of the motel room ready to get some air and give the boys some space to recover.

Neither boy moved for a moment, both still stunned and in pain. Slowly Dean pushed himself back up to standing, willing his legs to hold him upright. He felt weak and a little sick, beads of sweat still lingering on his forehead and white-hot pain radiating from the middle of his back down to the back of his knees.

"Adam?" he questioned quietly, taking stock of the kid who earlier he wanted to beat into the carpet, but who now looked so small and young, shaking against the table.

"Hey," he said again, stiffly moving to gently touch his younger brother's shoulder. Adam flinched at the touch, but then lifted his head slightly.

"Hey, it's ok. " Dean said again, falling back into his well-trodden role of protective older brother.

Gently he helped Adam stand and together they slowly made their way to the tiny motel bathroom. Once inside, Dean got a good look at what he had done to his younger brother and he was instantly ashamed. No wonder Dad had beat him so badly. He damn well deserved it. Not only was Adam's face red and puffy from crying, but the teen had a busted lip, swollen nose, and red lines of carpet burn all along the left side of his face.

Dean shook his head in embarrassment and dampened a washcloth under some cold water handing it to Adam, who very hesitantly held it to his face.

"Adam," Dean started, " I…uh..."

Adam wouldn't look at him, instead grimaced at the tile of the bathroom floor.

Dean turned away then, eyeing his own reflection in the mirror. "I'm sorry, dude," he said, more to himself than Adam, but he couldn't bring himself to do more.

Adam was quiet.

"Whatever," he said finally, throwing the now pink washcloth into the sink and storming out of the bathroom.

Dean sighed and hung his head, feeling like he deserved a beating all over again.

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_**Author's Note:**__ I started this story a long ago before I had decided some of the dynamics of the Winchester family. While I do think that Dean would be angry after Sam left and be a general powder keg of emotion, I'm not sure he would ever beat on his brother like this. He and Sam rarely get into fistfights in canon and it's more than a little out of character to beat up someone so much younger. _

_Also, I'm not entirely convinced that John would belt Dean at 21. I've gone back and forth about the issue and I can't really decide, but since I was on the fence I decided it was another reason to leave this story out of the Becoming Winchester canon. _

_That said- finishing this was a good warm-up to writing again and I'm working on a new (long) chapter for Becoming Winchester! I'd love your thoughts on this story and the series at large! _


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